My Vampire and I (19 page)

 

"Are you all right?"

 

I looked up into Marcus's angry yet anxious face, and nodded. "Sorry," I mumbled. I watched as Andorra picked Tony off the ground, her face a stony mask of displeasure.

 

"Well,
this
is an interesting development," d'Arcy said, chuckling. He glanced at Gregory who was stumbling to his feet, his piggy eyes filled with hate. "Stay there, Gregory. Let us see how Marcus reacts to our
invited
guest."

 

From behind the white marble sepulchre near d'Arcy, a figure emerged. Dressed in a dark burgundy velvet jacket and trousers, a black silk cravat at his throat, the man whose painting I had seen only a few nights before stood before us, a faint smile touching his lips.

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"
Tomás,
" Andorra said, horror in her voice.

I looked at Marcus's stricken expression and felt the bottom of my stomach drop out. I wanted to run from this place and never stop until I had reached West Hollywood.

There was no place for me here now. Thomas and Marcus were reunited. I was forgotten.
Startled, I felt Marcus grip my arm.
"What fiendishness is this?" he barked at d'Arcy. "What is it that you hope to accomplish here?"
The Comte's smile was wicked. "Tell him, Thomas."
A momentary flicker of doubt appeared on Thomas's pale face. He reached out a hand towards Marcus.
"Tell him!" d'Arcy roared.

Thomas's hand dropped to his side. "You will sacrifice all those here with you to the dark forces," he said, his voice slow and slurred. "Do this, and I will be yours again—
forever
, Marcus."

 

"Dear God, Thomas," Marcus cried. "What did he do to you? How is this possible?" He released his grip on my arm and strode forward to where d'Arcy and Thomas stood. He stretched out his hand, running it over Thomas's face, not so much in a caress, rather like feeling his temperature. He turned on d'Arcy. "You think you could fool me with this trick? This is not Thomas—not really. You have awakened him for your foolish enjoyment, but he will not survive long."

 

"He will," d'Arcy sneered. "With the aid of your plaything's blood, Marcus. Surely, you would not deny your beloved Thomas the lifeblood he needs? I thought you would have been more than willing to sacrifice some of your own, but now 183

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with your little friend's arrival, that will not be necessary. Give him to Thomas. Let him drink his fill. Let him
live
again."

"No, damn you," Marcus seethed. "You will not do this. You killed Thomas.
You
give him life." And with a move so fast, it was almost a blur, Marcus seized d'Arcy by the throat, sank his fangs into the vampire's neck then pushed him into Thomas's arms, letting him feast on the blood that spilled from the wound. The Comte let out a long high-pitched scream of terror as he felt Thomas's lips and tongue pull the blood from him. He sank to his knees, Thomas following, clinging to him like a leech, sucking and sucking...

A roar from the other side of the chamber, made me jump out of my skin. I'd been so mesmerised by the horrific scene in front of me, I had totally forgotten about Gregory. So had everyone else it seemed, for he now blundered forward, but somehow, Marcus with his mental powers held him in check.
The two of them stood facing one another—beauty and the beast. When Marcus was satisfied that Thomas had drunk enough of d'Arcy's blood to sustain him, he released Gregory from whatever hypnotic spell he had cast on him. With a hateful growl, Gregory rushed forward, knocking Thomas aside. Then, picking d'Arcy up in his arms, he took off into the darkness of a far corridor.

Marcus helped Thomas to his feet, and the two ex-lovers stood staring at each other for what seemed to me to be an eternity. I suddenly realised they were talking to one another with their minds...

I've lost him
, I thought.
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This must seem like a dream to him, reunited. I could feel the tears burning at the back of my eyes as I turned away.
Tony grabbed my arm. "You can't leave. You don't know where you are. Just wait."
Andorra threw me a look of sympathy, and I felt like shit.
"Roger." I looked to where Marcus stood, smiling at me.
Oh no,
I thought,
he's going to introduce us, then ask me if I mind, but—
"Roger," he said again gently. "Come here."

Head up, swallowing the great gulping sob that was starting in my throat, I walked over to him. He drew me into his arms, crushed me to his oh so incredible body and kissed me, hard.

 

"You are without doubt, the most headstrong, aggravating and wonderful man I have ever known," he said in my ear, his lips soft and warm against my flesh. "Thomas wants to thank you for intervening and saving him from d'Arcy."

 

He does?

 

"I do." Oh right, another one who can read my mind. What happened to the block Marcus had put up earlier? Thomas smiled and took my hand in his own cool one. "Marcus has much to be grateful for," he said. "And I am forever in your debt."

 

His eyes were sapphire blue, and as I remembered from his portrait, full of laughter and mischief. All these years lying in that sepulchre hadn't changed him much. So what was happening here? Was I about to get my marching orders?

"Roger." As Thomas moved away to join Andorra and Tony, Marcus gave me a reproving look. "Will you please stop 185 My Vampire and I
by J. P. Bowie
selling yourself short? You are the one I love. Nothing that has happened here has changed that. Do you believe me?"

I wanted to. Oh, how I wanted to. I put my arms around his neck, pressing my face to his. "I love you too, Marcus, but are you sure? I mean, you and Thomas, all those years..."

 

"Hush." He kissed me tenderly. "Who knows the why and wherefore of who and how we love, Roger? Is it not enough that I crave your presence every moment of every day? Have I not shown you how much you mean to me?"

 

God, I loved the way this guy talked! Where else was I going to find a boyfriend as eloquent and erudite? Nowhere, so I'd better stick to him like glue.

"Okay," I said. "Let's go home."
"Not quite yet," he chuckled. "We have one or two problems to deal with first."
Drat. He remembered.
I sighed. "So, what happens now?"
"The Comte will no doubt soon recover from his ...
unfortunate loss of blood. He is not going to give up until he feels he is avenged. We still need to be on our guard."
Oh, great.
Andorra, along with Tony and Thomas approached us.
"Do you think he really summoned the Dark Forces in order to bring Thomas back?" she asked Marcus.
"No. That was a bluff. He stopped Thomas's heart, and he could start it again, that's all."
She frowned. "Do you think he could do it again?"
"I seriously doubt it," Thomas said with a great deal of conviction. "I think his blood has made my heart stronger 186
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than it ever was. Do you plan to find him? If so, I think I could be helpful. I know of several places he can hide."
"As well you should," Andorra remarked, tartly. "Who was by his side for all those years, if not you?"
"Exactly."
"But don't forget that d'Arcy knows that also," Marcus interjected. "He will be on the lookout for us once he has regained his strength." As they talked, Tony and I drifted off into a corner. "Are you in a lot of trouble for being here?" I asked him.
"So-so, at the moment." He winked at me. "She'll get on my case when we get back home, but she'll get over it.
Eventually."
"You were right about Gregory," I said with a shudder. "He is one ugly mother. And that smell..."

"Yeah. I could have lived another hundred years without seeing that creep again. They're planning another strike, I think," he said, glancing over at our trio of vampires. "We should volunteer."

 

"Are you nuts?" I exclaimed. "You think they'd even
consider
taking us along? When we know what they're planning, we'll improvise." "You're the man," Tony said, grinning at me.

* * * *
Later, back in Andorra's villa, Tony and I made sandwiches while Marcus and the others plotted their next strategy.
"Anyone like a glass of wine?" I yelled from the kitchen.
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"Yes, please," they chorused together. Nice, polite vampires.
God,
I thought,
if any of my friends could see me now.
Mind you, they'd probably think if this should happen to anyone, it should be me, the queen of horror flicks. So many times, I'd bored the pants off them, regaling them with the plot of the latest movie I'd seen.

As I poured the wine, I thought of all the vampire movies I'd seen, especially the final scenes where the naughty vampire gets his—or hers. Maybe there was something in those stories that might help here. Like I said, my favourite Dracula was Frank Langella—not as sexy as Marcus, of course, but pretty good. When he cut himself and had the heroine drink his blood, I'd almost creamed my pants. On the other hand, Christopher Lee did the same thing in one of his vampire movies, and it was about as sexy as watching grass being fertilised. Anyway, at the end of Frank's version, the

"good guys" had him trapped by opening his coffin when the sun was up.
"How about if you lured them outside into the daylight," I suggested helpfully as I placed their wine on the table.
"Daylight strong enough to destroy them would also destroy us," Thomas said, picking up his wineglass.
"Not if you used Tony and me as the lures."
"
Roger
," Marcus warned.
"Just kidding." I smiled at him and dropped a kiss on his forehead before leaving the table in a hurry.
"I thought you said we would improvise," Tony hissed at me.
"Listen," I whispered.
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"Actually," Thomas was saying. "Roger's idea is quite sound."
"Forget it," Marcus snapped. "How could we protect them if we cannot go outside?"

"Marcus is right, Tomás," Andorra said. "We cannot leave Tony and Roger alone with those monsters. They would not last but a moment or two. No, we need to find them while they sleep then dispose of them as quickly as possible."

"How do you intend to do that?" Thomas asked with some disdain. "We sleep at the same time, but if we sent Roger while they slept..." Hmm. I was beginning to think Thomas wanted me out of the way. I needn't have worried however.

"No!" Marcus thumped the table for emphasis. "Neither Roger nor Tony will go anywhere near them. Do you understand Thomas? Now, let us hear no more of using them as bait or anything else that will endanger them." He gave Thomas a cold look. "You should know I would never allow it."

"Your pardon, Marcus." Thomas drained his wineglass then stood up. "If you will excuse me, I must go out. I will not be long." I shuddered at the implication. I could only hope he was as gentle as Marcus with his victims, but somehow, I doubted it.

I was forming an opinion of Thomas that was none too flattering.
I'm going to keep an eye on you, fella,
I thought, munching my sandwich.
Just don't make any funny moves.

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189
My Vampire and I
by J. P. Bowie

Chapter Sixteen
That night, Marcus was especially sweet to me. After Andorra and Tony had retired to their room and there was still no sign of Thomas's return, he playfully carried me to our room and flung me down on the bed.

Lying on top of me, he peeled my shirt off.
What, no magic fingers?
I thought, smiling up at him.
No magic fingers
, he replied.
I want to undress you, slowly, kissing each part of you that I lay bare
.

There was no way that I could survive that, without disgracing myself fabulously, so I wrestled him onto his back—of course, with his permission— and started to tear his clothes off with my teeth. I'd seen this done very successfully, in a porno movie, but it proved to be much more difficult in real life. He started to chuckle under me, as time and again I failed to unzip his pants, using only my molars.

"Damn," I muttered to myself, down there. "It looked so easy when Rod Hardcock did it."

But then, the magic fingers were there to help, and in a flash, his pants were gone, his perfect penis right there within easy reach of my mouth. I wasted no time, taking it deep inside my throat, using my tongue's newfound skills to bring it to its hardest, proudest dimensions. It filled my mouth with its pulsating, throbbing power. I felt him move over me, and his mouth held my cock prisoner. I froze, momentarily, as the sharp edges of his fangs ran up and down the length of my 190

My Vampire and I
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erection. The effect was electrifying, and I cried out loud as my cock jumped in his mouth.

No, I don't want to come yet
, I thought and began to think of crazy stuff that would allow me to revel in this rapturous feeling for as long as he laid it on me. Then his voice was in my head.

 

Don't fight it, beloved. Fill my mouth. Let me drink the essence of your love for me.

 

That did it. With a gasping groan, I climaxed and felt the muscles in his throat constrict as he swallowed every drop that jetted from my engorged penis. At the same time, his cock spasmed in my mouth, and I sucked down the torrent of cum that flooded over my tongue. He pulled me up until our lips met, scorching me with a long, lingering kiss. I clung to him, still shuddering from this amazing sexual rush. He held me in an embrace I wanted to hold onto forever.

 

"You are the sweetest man I have ever met," he said. "Not to mention, the bravest. I should punish you for what you did tonight, and yet, I think it would not deter you from doing it all over again."

"What punishment did you have in mind?" I asked with a little smirk.
"Only what you could endure."
"From you, that could last a lifetime," I whispered.
"Oh, my beloved Roger."

I loved it when he called me that—'My beloved'. It was like an echo from a bygone age. People just don't talk to one another like that anymore, more's the pity.